Tag Archives: organic

These pearls are manufactured for you from organic potato starch which comes from organic potatoes grown in the pristine Finnish countryside.

Enjoy your pearls in hot porridges, puddings, pancakes, sweet desserts and pies. Or improve the texture of your casseroles and meatballs with pearls.

Our pearls have a mild taste, making them a favourite with everyone in the family – babies as well as seniors and everyone in between. This product is organic and Kosher certified as well as Halal certified. And if you have special dietary requirements such as coeliac, vegan or low allergies, this is for you.

Ingredients: organic potato starch, citric acid (E330)

Resistant Starch 24g/100g

Organic SAGO Pearls are free from

gluten

allergens

gmo’s

milk and dairy

egg

Organic SAGO Pearls are

Vegan and vegetarian

with no added salt or sugar

a good source of resistant starch

Kosher certified

Halal certified

We will be exhibiting at BioFach in Germany 10.-13.2.2016 at Finland national stand. Finnish top chef Kim Palhus will be there preparing Finnish food including some of the below. Come over and taste the Sago potato pearl and meet us in Hall 5 – Stand 131!

Looking forward to meeting you at BioFach!

Recipes

SAGO Potato Porridge (4 servings)

1 litre milk

2,5 dl organic Sago pearls

1 tsp salt

1 tbs butter

Bring the milk to a boil and then add the Pearls. Simmer for 8 minutes while stirring constantly. Take the pot off the heat, put the lid on and allow the porridge to steep for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and butter according to your taste.

SAGO pearl pudding – gluten free (5 servings)

8 dl milk

2 dl Sago potato pearls

¾ tsp salt

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp vanilla sugar

2 eggs

Bring the milk to the boil and then add the Sago potato pearls. Allow to simmer for 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and allow the porridge to steep for 1-2 minutes, with the lid on. Add salt to taste and a knob of butter.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a greased oven dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C. Serve warm with lingonberry kissel.

Lingonberry kissel

2 dl lingonberry juice

3 dl water

2 Tbsp. Organic potato starch

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Add juice and water to a saucepan. Add the potato starch and sugar.

Bring to simmering point, stirring all the time. Add the vanilla sugar and allow to cool.

Vegetable chicken casserole – gluten and lactose free (4 servings)

300 g L´uomunokka´s boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

100 g diced fresh onion

500 g vegetable strips (frozen)

1 ½ dl Sago potato pearls

2 dl heavy cream

2 dl water

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fry the chicken strips in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry together for a minute. Add the vegetables and Sago potato pearls. Transfer this to a greased casserole dish.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and add to the chicken mixture. Press down the surface with a spatula. Bake at 200 °C for about 45 minutes.

Fazer Mill & Mixes has invested in a new oat mill in Lahti, Finland. The mill has now been in operation since the summer 2013 and is one of the most modern oat mills in the world. Fazer wants to respond to the increasing demand of oats in the world by offering excellent Finnish oats. Fazer Mill & Mixes is already renowned for its high-quality rye and wheat products.

”A lot of untreated oat is exported from Finland, but we at Fazer want to add value to the oats and export ready- made products which require good professional skills” says the Director of Fazer Mill & Mixes Pekka Mäki-Reinikka.

Finland is well known as a producer of the highest quality oats. Finland also has a lot of organic farming with 9% of the arable field area certified organic with a growth of 11% per year (2012). The most popular grain in organic production in Finland is oats because it adapts well to organic farming in Nordic conditions and gives consistent high quality yields. Finland is globally one of the biggest producers of organic oats. Finland’s official target to reach 20% organic field area by 2020 gives confidence that sufficient raw-material will be available.

Fazer is one of the biggest millers of organic grain in Finland. Fazer’s goal is that a significant part of the new oat mill’s production will be certified organic for export markets. With this in mind Fazer has decided to enter into cooperation with Organic Food Finland who has a long experience in export of organic products and knows well the organic grain market and specifically the oats market. Erkki Pöytäniemi at Organic Food Finland will use his wide contact network and market knowledge to develop the export. Fazer Mill & Mixes will be exhibiting at BioFach 2014 in Nuremberg, Germany in February 2014. ”I am excited that we can offer high-quality Finnish organic oat flakes to the growing organic market in Europe and elsewhere. This is a win-win for the Finnish organic farmers, Fazer and the increasing number of demanding customers and consumers around the world.” Erkki Pöytäniemi says.

Oat flakes and other oat products now available from Fazer Mill & Mixes.

Fazer Mill & Mixes has started a brand new Oat Mill with state-of-the-art technology in Finland in September 2013. Fazer’s oat mill represents the very latest production technology which allows us to create a wide range of high quality products. The new oat mill enables us to complement our product range with oat products but also rye and wheat flakes.

Our portfolio is primarily intended for bakeries and the food industry including oat flakes with different technical properties as well as stabilized kernels and steel cut oats. As raw material we use only Finnish oats which is available also in organically-grown. The package sizes are 10 or 20 kg paper bags and big bags (500 – 1000 kg).

Our quality portfolio of organic products comprises the following products:

O 2000 BIO Organic heat-treated oats

O 2000 SC BIO Organic steel cut oats

O 2000 P BIO Organic pressed oats

O 2000 JF BIO Organic jumbo oat flakes

O 2000 TF BIO Organic thick oat flakes

O 2000 F BIO Organic oat flakes

O 2000 IF BIO Organic instant oat flakes

Organic Wholemeal oat flour

Organic Oat bran

R 1800 P BIO Organic pressed rye

R 1800 F BIO Organic rye flake

V 1700 F BIO Organic wheat flake

Fazer Group

Fazer is an international family-owned company offering bakery, confectionery and biscuit products as well as contract catering, restaurant and café services. Fazer operates in eight countries and exports to more than 40 countries. The company’s success, ever since its establishment in 1891, has been based on the best product and service quality, beloved brands and skillful people. Fazer’s operations comply with ethical principles that are based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact.

The company operates in two business areas. Among Fazer Brands’ well-known delicacies are tasty baked goods and confectionery. Fazer Food Services offers good food and tailor-made services in contract catering. Fazer Group’s net sales in 2012 amounted to nearly 1.7 billion euros and the company has over 15,000 employees.

Fazer Mill & Mixes was created in 1971 on Sven Fazer’s initiative to secure the supply of flour of high quality and competitive price for Fazer’s bakeries. First, the mill delivered flour only to Fazer’s own production units, but in 1990 Fazer Mill & Mixes started sales to external customers as well as exports. This provided the mill a strong impetus for growth and since 2008 Fazer Mill & Mixes has been the largest commercial mill in Finland and the second largest one in the Nordic countries, milling wheat and rye flour.

The production of special mixes started in the 1990s and in 2003, the previous major investment was made in a new mixing plant. Fazer Mill & Mixes has grown into the biggest producer of special grain mixes (bakery mixes) in Northern Europe.

Some 15 per cent of the production of Fazer Mill & Mixes is exported. The annual milling quantities of wheat are around 100,000 tons and of rye, slightly over 50,000 tons.

When you bake you want to have a leavening effect in the dough, i.e. somehow incorporate gas bubbles in the dough or batter to make the final product lighter and softer. How is this achieved? The most traditional method – and certainly still the best if you want to bake quality bread – is using sourdough. 19th century bakers also used brewers yeast and it was only in the early 20th century that commercial baker’s yeast as we know it became available.

Sourdough and yeast are biological methods of leavening the dough by fermenting sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide (CO2) and ethanol. On the other hand soda and baking powder are chemical leavening agents. The purpose is to create CO2 gas and steam (water) in the dough in an easily manageable way. Soda and baking powder are used in quick breads and cakes, as well as cookies and numerous other applications where a biological fermentation is impractical or undesirable. Used as a leavening agent, baking powder lightens texture and increases the volume of baked goods such as muffins, cakes, pancakes, and cookies.

Baking powders were used already in the mid 19th century and became widespread in the early 20th century. It is interesting to realize that baking powder was commercialized earlier than baker’s yeast.

What is Baking Powder?

Baking powder is a dry leavening agent, a mixture of a weak alkali and a weak acid and a bulking agent (starch). Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture.

The alkaline component is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). The acid can be either fast-acting (reacts in room temperatures) or slow-acting (reacts in high temperatures, i.e. in the oven) while baking powders containing both are called double-acting. However the slow-acting acids are not allowed in organic products* so only fast-acting acids can be used in organic baking powder.

Baking soda is the source of the CO2 gas, and the acid-base reaction can be generically represented as

NaHCO3 + H+ → Na+ + CO2 + H2O,

where CO2 (carbon dioxide), water (steam) and salts are the result of the acid-base reaction.

If the dough contains acidic ingredients it is not necessary to use baking powder as baking soda will react with the acids in the dough.

Starch is used as a bulking agent in baking powder for two main reasons:

To absorb moisture. This is important for preventing the components from reacting with each other prematurely and thereby for the shelf life of the baking powder.

For better and more even mixing and more accurate measurement.

Double Function Baking Powder

Both corn starch and potato starch are used as bulking agents in Baking Powders but potato starch is a functional bulking agent and has clear advantages:

low swelling temperature

excellent protective film-making properties

increases leavening effect

reduces moisture migration

potato starch is 100% allergen-free including gluten-free

potato starch is 100% GMO-free.

Potato starch starts to swell at less than 60 degrees Celsius and reaches maximum at 80 Celsius. After this point the starch granules start to break and form a gel. In a baking process this increases the leavening effect of Baking Powder by forming a protective film inside the gas bubbles thereby preventing the gas from escaping and the dough from falling. By comparison corn starch does not have a similar effect as it starts to swell at much higher temperatures and won’t function in baking temperatures.

Similarly a protective film is formed on the surface of the baked product. The result is a more crispy product and reduced moisture migration. For example cookies stay crispy for a longer time. This effect – if desirable – can be enhanced by adding more potato starch than what is already in the Aloja Baking Powder.

The main difference between potato starch and corn starch – or any other starch for that matter – is the lower swelling temperature of potato starch. This is also the key issue why potato starch is better than corn starch as a carrier in Baking Powder. Actually we can say that Aloja Starkelsen has created a Double Function Baking Powderby using potato starch.

Organic Blueberry Muffins (including Organic Baking Powder) on their way into the oven….

Potato starch is clean with no known allergy issues and it is gluten-free. There are no GMO potatoes grown in Europe which eliminated any risk of GMO contamination.

… and after 35 minutes in the over.

Why Organic Baking Powder?

Baking powder is not your typical organic product as it is not food as such. However over half of baking powder is actually starch – which in an organic product must be organic – while the other half are the soda and acid. We offer baking powder as bulk to organic manufacturers and as a consumer packed product.

A manufacturer of baked products in which baking powder is used has two choices: to buy organic baking powder or to buy the components of baking powder separately and blend them on-site. For a small and mid-size operator it is more efficient to buy an accurately blended baking powder from a professional manufacturer. Inaccurate blending can result in residues and off-flavor in the final product.

For a consumer blending is not an option. Most Baking Powders that are available in supermarkets contain corn starch which cannot be guaranteed to be Gmo-free and don’t offer the same functionality as potato starch. Double acting baking powders can contain aluminium. However the Aloja Organic Baking Powder is thanks to potato starch double functioning and it is a certified organic product.

Applications

Baking powder is used in bakeries in muffins, cakes, cookies, biscuits and fast breads. It can also be used in deep frying to create crispy coatings or in fried sweets. The dosage is the same as for conventional baking powder: 1 teaspoon of baking powder for 1 cup of flour or approximately 2% of the flour.

Due to the equivalency agreement between the EU and the USA all organic products (with a few exceptions) that are certified organic according to EU regulation 834/2007 in a EU member state and shipped to the USA or Canada can be sold and labeled as organic in those countries. USDA: Importing organic products from the European Union.

The Latvian potato starch manufacturer Aloja Starkelsen SIA focuses on production of certified organic potato starch. Aloja Starkelsen is the leader company in the Baltic Organic Potato project aiming to develop organic potato cultivation in the Baltic states – mainly Latvia and Estonia. Already the project has been successful in securing the raw-material base for Aloja Starkelsen’s expanding organic potato starch production. In 2011 Aloja Starkelsen and Finnish Finnamyl Ltd entered into cooperation for expanding organic potato starch production and market. Also in Finland an increase in organic starch potato cultivation has been achieved making Aloja Starkelsen and Finnamyl together the biggest organic starch producer in Northern Europe. Organic Food Finland is responsible for marketing and selling the organic potato starch from both sources. With both Aloja Starkelsen and Finnamyl expanding their organic potato starch production customers can count on consistent, reliable and long-term supply.

Aloja Starkelsen is exhibiting at Health Ingredients Europe on 13th to 15th November 2012 in Frankfurt. Please join us there at our stand at the Organic Pavilion, stand H36.

I wrote a posting about Rye last year and anticipated that Linkosuo will launch a range of organic flavoured Rye Crisps or Chips. Now it has happened in Germany through the wholesaler Dennree. If you happen to be in Germany you can look for the Linkosuo Rye Crisps in organic supermarkets – the best bet probably is the Denns Biomarkt chain of stores.

You have the choice between Tomato, Sour-Cream-Onion and Garlic – or even better – take them all. You can grab a bag and eat them as they are or try adding some dip. The good thing is that they are much more healthy than chips and snacks usually are with organic wholemeal rye, 13% fibre and only 9% fat content.

Now that the products have been developed and launched on one market we are looking at taking the next steps in terms of opening other markets. I will keep you posted.

In addition to these flavored snack products Linkosuo has launched also unflavoured variants on the Finnish market – with 100 % organic wholemeal rye and also with a bit of wheat to soften the bite.

For many BioFach’s main news this year was the partnership between EU and USA enabling trade between the two blocks in organic products. From the European point of view all plant based products that are certified organic in the EU can be exported to the USA with the EU certification. Almost all organic products certified in the USA can be imported into the EU with the USDA certification. For additional information see below.